The Labor enquirer., 1887-03-05

las been found guilty By Z jury. The
unstable. like every other cititsa land
" virtue OF his Office surely fl more
han any ordinary citisen) i presumed
o know the Law. Ignorance Of the law
8 for him, as for all o.hsrs, no excuse.
ae is bound to supposs Jamst McCann
innocent, notwithstanding which he
to wound and actually kills
him. Is he not guiltyof murderf
At 4:30 q m. on Wednesday. February
I6. police officers Roeers. Silvs. Lee.
Cox and BirdsaIl. of San Francisco. aw
J. E. Sites come out of his house. No.
liz Larkin street. They folio we'd him,
md perceiving this he quickened his
pace and when he reached Turk street
began 10 run. The police commanded
him to stop; he paid no attention and
they fired thirteen shots at him. At
that moment they had not an atom Of
proof against this man, who ID now on
trial as suspected dvnamiter; they de.
ran the risk Of killil z an in
nocent man for the sake of making q
captu. Q. BY the law ]. E. Sites was
and still is presumed to be innocent |;
the police as representing the law we're
bound to suppose him innocent until he
had been after full trial proven guilty.
Each Of these thirteen shots was an as
sault with intent to murder, q, d-what
is being done about it
Although the law presumes man to
be innocent until he has been proven
guilty, yet it is obvious that cases of
emergency may arise in shich the guar
dians Of the lsw-the police must be
licensed to act on the spur of the mo
ment. They are therefore permitted 10
arrest without warrant those actually
engaged in committing a felony, and
they may also make an arrest to prevect
an evidently threatened breach of the
peace. 1t may also be that by special
state law they are endowed with other
powers for dealing with emergencies. az
to which ! cannot speak. not having
opened law book for years and having
now no opportunity of consulting one
This however l do know, that it is the
fundamental principle of all crimina
LAWN this as in every other civilized
country-that man is presumed to bt
innocent until proven guilty, and tha
any special statute authorizing the po
lice ito. act as Judge, jury and executioner
is contrary 70 the principles of common
law, and IS therefore not worth th,
paper it is written on.
This is no light matter, and calls TO-
the immediate and serious attention o
every labor organization and Of ever,
lover Of justice. The history of tn
last twelve months would show hun
dreds of cases in which the police uset
their revolvers, always irving 10 wount
and often succeeding in killing. simply
for the sake of making capture. In al
enormous number of these cases-as il
those of McCann and Stites-they hav'
had in their hands, at tie time of firing
not a scintilla of proof of guilt. 1t i
worth while, gentlemen of the labor or
ganizations, to take this matter unde
consideration, because if this state 0
things is to continue, there is nothin,
under Gods heavens to preventa police
man who has grudge against any on,
of you shooting you down in cold blooG
and then swearing that he called upol
you to stop and that on your failing t,
do so he fred. II
There is however a higher question
still TO be considered, viz, whethe
property is to be regarded as superior t,
human life; whether we are to regart
as iustifable the taking of human life
which can never be replaced, for th,
sake of preserving property which labo
can always reproduce.
we'll remember that about Apri
last-when Pinkerton thugs had sho
down men during the Gould railroad
strike, and defended themselves on tn,
plea that it had been necessary for tl,
defense of the railroad property-th,
Federated Trades of San Francisco
spoke with no uncertain voice upon thii
very subject. They passed uianimousi,
resolutions declaring that life was of fal
greater importance than property. and
that to sacrifice the former for the sake
of preserving the lattes was to commit
wilful murder The time hai now come
for them to show that they have the
courage Of their convictions and thai
they may show it. is devoltly to be
wished, since the question Of wheth er
the lives of the workers, their wives and
children shall or shall not te subordi.
mated to the pursuit by thei' masters oi
the almighty dollar, is precisely all that
the labor question amounts ID.
The question of whether Sites is in
nocent or guilty is perfectly INN ate rial !;
the point is that the police. .cting upon
mere suspicion, put his life il jeopardy ,
and all who believe in the sanctlty of
human life should join hams to secure
their summary conviction and punish
ment. A great principle is stake,
w. co.